Partners In Success.

4/12/2016

It’s an ordinary Saturday morning for Mike Baker, Regional Director of Business Development with Atlas Logistics. He gets a call from Jeremy Redd, who oversees shipping at eLuxurySupply. Jeremy has a question about a Less than Truckload (LTL) shipment of bedding bound for an Amazon distribution center. Atlas Logistics picked the load up from eLuxurySupply the day before.

“I’ll get your answer — I just need to make a quick phone call,” says Mike.

Atlas Logistics and eLuxurySupply work in a thriving partnership. Both companies are relatively young; Atlas Logistics formed in 2012, and eLuxurySupply started up in 2009. Both are based in Evansville, Indiana, and are highly involved in the life of the community. And both companies are growing. Atlas Logistics has seen major gains in volume over the last three years, particularly in the Third-Party Logistics (3PL) arena. And eLuxurySupply is ranked 15 on Inc. 5000’s latest list of America’s Fastest Growing Private Companies.

Andrew Saunders, who works in operations with eLuxurySupply, says he and his associates measure success according to a definition published in 1806: generous, prosperous, kind. Which leads to the most important characteristic the two firms have in common: always doing what’s right for the customer.

“People in our two organizations work so well together, you could mistake us for employees of the same company,” says Andrew.

Attitudes for Service

Atlas Logistics builds its reputation on service, bringing the best results for every customer. Whether using Atlas corporate and agency fleets, or drawing on a vast network of third-­party carriers as it does for eLuxurySupply, Atlas Logistics matches the right resources to deliver efficient, cost­-effective transportation solutions across the U.S.

The attitude of service is apparent across the eLuxurySupply enterprise, from the live chat box that appears when you visit the website to the personalized, handwritten “thank you” enclosed with every order. Above the signature line, the Latin phrase Semper Fi (“always faithful”) conveys a pledge of service to every customer. Not coincidentally, it is the motto of the U.S. Marine Corps.

“We have a strong connection to the military,” says Andrew. “Several of our employees are veterans, including me and my brother Paul, who started the company. We respect veterans, not only for their service, but because they make good employees — dependable, hardworking, and loyal.”

Paul is the company’s chief executive and visionary who zeroed in on an under-served niche for fine bedding. He started filling it from his garage. In the third quarter of 2015, the company relocated from its start-­up location in Tennessee to the Saunders’ home town.

Some might contend a cutting-­edge manufacturer and online retailer would find its best prospects for growth in a commercial hub on the coast. But the eLuxurySupply team believes in the future of their home town. They like the people they’ve grown up with, gone to school with, and whose kids now play and compete with theirs on the same schoolyards. Doing business with people they know and trust feels right. As Andrew puts it, “People from Evansville take care of people from Evansville.”

“Both Atlas and eLuxurySupply work for the betterment of the entire community,” says Mike. “When two companies work together like we do, you get great results.”

Featured

Atlas® Van Lines Agents think ‘the bigger the better’ when it comes to spreading awareness about food insecurity. In partnership with Move For Hunger,™ a nonprofit that encourages donating food instead of moving it, our moving and storage companies are sharing the message from the largest billboards they could find – their moving trucks.

What if you could walk through your customer’s home from the other side of the world? Or see every text message thread from your customer throughout the move? Or get immediate feedback for improving service on a move while it is taking place? You Can.

Each month, thousands of families go new places® with the help of Atlas® Agents. And each month, expressions of gratitude pour into Atlas via post-move surveys. It’s no wonder the comments often read like fan mail. People go hundreds, even thousands of miles, to get to a new home, a new community, a new job. Throughout their journeys, Atlas Agents provide service that is reliable and reassuring.

In late September, southwest Indiana celebrated a year of major milestones and recognized six individuals for their commitment to regional business at the Annual Meeting and Dinner held by the Southwest Indiana Chamber. One of the individuals honored was Atlas® Chairman & CEO Glen Dunkerson, who was named the 2016 Richard A. Schlottman Business Person of the Year.

Events

In fact, the overarching message for Atlas at the SHRM show was to ease customers’ minds about the relocation process. To demonstrate how Atlas PVO’s and pack/load team members are friends that customers can trust with their household belongings, two life-size cardboard cutouts of crew members stood in the booth for photo opportunities, while attendees were encouraged to share their selfies with the hashtag #MyFriendsAtAtlas.

A group of representatives from multiple Atlas Agencies and Atlas HQ trekked to Las Vegas in late June to set up shop at the annual Convention and Expo of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM). In total, more than 630 exhibiting companies filled over 30 aisles with human resource solutions at the Las Vegas Convention Center, making it the largest expo SHRM has ever held.

In 2015, Alexander's Mobility Services (0217) celebrated 20 years of service in the Nashville area, and they did it in a big way. As the largest multi-location agent in the Atlas family, Alexander's moved their Tennessee operations into a new location on the northwest side of the city.